While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.
Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.
One stock to keep an eye on is Customers Bancorp (CUBI). CUBI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.2 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.41. Over the last 12 months, CUBI's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.98 and as low as 6.09, with a median of 8.04.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CUBI's P/B ratio of 1.18. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.78. Over the past 12 months, CUBI's P/B has been as high as 1.28 and as low as 0.78, with a median of 0.97.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. CUBI has a P/S ratio of 1.93. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.36.
Finally, investors should note that CUBI has a P/CF ratio of 12.68. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 18.09. Over the past 52 weeks, CUBI's P/CF has been as high as 13.81 and as low as 7.09, with a median of 9.71.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Customers Bancorp's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that CUBI is an impressive value stock right now.
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Customers Bancorp, Inc (CUBI): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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